Dear Cherry Hill: I know it is still
summer, but I am starting to look at blankets. The thing about buying them is,
the farmhands where I ride don't change blankets on horses. (i.e. take off indoor
winter blanket to put on outdoor to turn them out). I live about 15 min. away
but I might not be able to get out there everyday to change his blankets! So should
I buy one cool weather and one winter blanket for both indoors AND out or an indoor
and outdoor for both seasons and see what the farmhands do? I can't ask them because
they don't speak English well. Thanks! Dani ©
2008 Cherry Hill ©
Copyright Information Hi
Dani, Like
you, I am a plan-ahead type of person, so to me, it is not too early to be thinking
about buying winter blankets. Thinking ahead like this is the key to
seamless stable management. I applaud your sense of planning!
Through my magazine article writing, I have been fortunate
to be able to test first hand 90% of all blankets on the market so my comments
are based on years of using blankets in stall, pen turnout and pasture turnout
situations. I've drawn some very specific conclusions which I'd like to
share with you in hopes they will help you in your blanket purchasing decisions.
As you know, when you turn a horse out for exercise in the
winter, it is ideal to change from a stable blanket (which is often warmer, not
waterproof, and not as resistant to rolling, rubbing, and running as a turnout
blanket is) to a turnout blanket which is designed to repel weather and take
horse abuse. Often horseowners are at work at precisely the time of day
when this blanket change should take place (during the heat of the day when the
horses are turned out) so you are not alone in your predicament.
It is far safer for your horse's health to blanket
too lightly than too heavily. By heavily, I mean too warmly. Especially
in the management situation you describe, where you don't know if and when the
horse's blankets WILL be changed, be sure you do not choose blankets that are
too warm. If a horse wears a heavy blanket at night and then is turned out
in it and exercises in the sun (even if the temperature is cold), he will
likely sweat. If the blanket is too thick and heavy or is not made of breathable
materials, the sweat will not be able to escape so the horse will then stand around
wet, cold and clammy - a perfect invitation to illness. This you want to
avoid at all costs. But I suspect you are already aware of that and that
is why you asked your question in the first place. That leads to the next
point. Focus
your selection on waterproof, breathable blankets. If you choose only ONE
winter blanket for your horse, choose a midweight waterproof breathable blanket.
Your horse could likely wear it in the stall and for turnout without the
problems associated with heating, sweating and chilling.
I think you are from a part of the country where the winters
can be cold indeed, something like the weather we have here. So, if I were
to outline the ideal wardrobe for your horse it would be:
fly
sheet for summer lightweight waterproof/breathable
sheet for fall (and spring) midweight
waterproof/breathable insulated blanket for winter
(optional)
extra layer (should be breathable but not waterproof) to put under the WB blanket
for below zero weather (can leave in place whether the horse is indoors or out)
One final
option I'd like to mention to you is that you could purchase a winter stable
blanket for your horse (one that is not waterproof) and use the waterproof/breathable
sheet over the top of it for turnout. As you say, you don't know if the
stable workers will do this for you, so this might not be an option, but it is
a way of having a stable blanket do double duty and protecting the stable blanket
and horse during turnout. Be sure to visit my Horse Information Roundup where I have
several articles posted on horse clothing including several on winter blankets
and care.  |